Stories of Impact

Melbourne Anglican Foundation: Preventing Violence Against Women

During her December 2022 sermon, Archbishop of Perth, Kay Goldsworthy AO, told the violent threats, (both death and bomb) which came for women who dared challenge the status quo of the Church in asking to be recognised as clergy.

In December 2022, the Archbishop of Perth, Kay Goldsworthy AO, officiated at St. Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne for the 30th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. During her Sermon, she told of the violent threats, (both death and bomb) which came for the women who dared challenge the status quo of the Church in asking to be recognised as Clergy. 

Archbishop Goldsworthy also mentioned the rise in Complementarianism in some aspects of Anglican worship which is feeding an unfortunate undercurrent of misogynistic behaviour within some of our faith communities.

Enter the Preventing Violence Against Women (PVAW) program which was implemented by the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne in 2021 after an in-depth research paper was conducted by the University of Melbourne in 2020 to evaluate the treatment of women in Anglican faith communities. The findings of the report were alarming for many in the Diocese and under the leadership of Archbishop Philip Freier and Bishop Genieve Blackwell, encouragement was given to design and implement a strategy of education, best practice and policy delivery which could address the very real issue of preventing and responding to family violence and violence against women within an Australian faith community.

With the visionary assistance of the Collier Charitable Fund, a grant of $95,000 was awarded to the Melbourne Anglican Foundation in 2021 to go towards the implementation of the program delivery and since 2021 I am thrilled to be able to report that the Diocese have trained over 200 people from 80 Parishes, including on-line training during the pandemic with staff and students from Ridley and Trinity Colleges. 

A Project Officer has been employed to work specifically with CALD communities and the program triggered the creation of a new Family Violence Policy which was ratified and passed into Diocesan process at the Melbourne Synod in October of 2022.

In short, the PVAW program has contributed to a range of positive changes emerging from the concerted efforts of the Diocese and it’s partners. After several years of laying the foundations with limited resources, followed by a more intensive period of expansion and piloting, the program is now generating real and sustainable impact within the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, the parishioners, staff and students of our faith community.

What has emerged from the success of the program is tangible behavioural change and underscores the importance of continued long-term sustainable investment in projects such as this. The Collier grant has enabled PVAW to increase its’ reach to a larger population of people across the Diocese and to grow its influence as a national and global leader in preventing violence against women not just within faith communities, but also across the broader community.

For more information about the Melbourne Anglican Foundation go to https://melbourneanglicanfoundation.au/ 

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